Servant Leadership in an Unjust World

Good corporate citizen ... social justice ..... fair and equal treatment ... helping others first ... and addressing injustice in the world. Noble ideas? Perhaps. Practical... not very often it would seem. Survival of the fittest and best ... free competition ... cost cutting strategy ... elimination of waste and winner takes all is often the prevailing wisdom. Privilege and entitlement become the fruits of current defined success. What leadership theory focuses on others first and is an emerging theory of sustainable success? Servant Leadership which was first introduced by Robert Greenleaf.

Servant leadership can be seen as an upside down style of leadership. Leaders transcend their self-interest to serve the needs of others, help others grow and develop, and provide the opportunity for others to grow materially and emotionally. The least and last become the first and the most important. This means valuing people of all abilities and strengths. Servant leadership calls for a long term view of human capital investment. In the corporate world, in the long term this investment in people creates success and value where before there was bitterness and exploitation. In the corporate world, this creates a distribution of wealth that creates sales and prosperity for a greater number of people expanding the economic pie. This gives hope for a better future and the hope of stability in markets.

Characteristics of servant leadership include;

• Put service before self- interest 
• Listen first to affirm others
• Inspire trust by being trustworthy
• Nourish others and make them whole

This view leads to the conclusion that the organization exists to provide meaningful work. Listening builds relationships. Belief that through respect for others each person can reach their potential. Humility is an important characteristic of a servant leader. 

The servant leader's top priority is serving the customer, the employees, the shareholders, and the general public. Leadership succeeds because it enables other people to grow and fulfill their intended purpose by achieving success.

Leading & Team Conflict

Ever been part of a team in a situation that turns ugly because of conflict? Wherever people work or live together there is going to be some conflict. Bringing conflicts into the open and resolving them is one of the most important roles and responsibilities of a leader. Conflict is an antagonistic interaction within and outside the team where one party attempts to interfere and disrupt the plans and goals of another. When a leader is able to address conflict effectively the positive impact on team cohesiveness and success is significant.

Conflicts centered around disagreements among people about the goals to be achieved or how to approach the tasks to be performed to meet the goals is referred to as task conflict. Conflicts that arise due to a personal incompatibility referred to as relationship conflict creates tension between people and feeling of personal animosity. Making conflicts personal tends to create an environment where common ground for resolution of the disagreement becomes more challenging. Task conflict on the other hand can be beneficial by forcing the team to resolve the conflict in a logical manner by evaluating the alternatives often coming up with a third better solution not previously considered.

Positivity and building on strengths is an excellent approach to find common ground in task conflict with the parties building a solution on the foundation of shared stories of success and the strengths of the team. Appreciative Inquiry leverages this approach by asking powerful open ended questions, This common ground supported by the value of the organization often finds a 'best' solution for the task in conflict. The tension created promotes creativity and a dialogue between the team members on the preferred future statement called Dream in the 4D AI process.

Leadership and teams overseeing conflict resolution exhibit different styles, Each has advantages and challenges:

• dominating style (my way)
• appropriate in high crisis / disenfranchising people
• avoiding style (no way)
• appropriate over trivial matters / minor conflicts can fester
• compromising style (half-way)
• appropriate when opposing goals equally important / not an optimum solution
• accommodating style (your way)
• appropriate when one sides is wrong or seeks harmony / resentment may accumulate
• collaborating style (our way)
• appropriate when both opinions are important / consensus is hard work

Remember, wherever and whenever people work or live together there is going to be some conflict. Bringing conflicts into the open and resolving them is one of the most important roles and responsibilities of a leader.

Developing Teams

Throwing managers together rarely creates a high functioning team, yet many organizations follow that process and expect things to "work out". Sometimes reorganizations or changes in the make-up of the leadership team create the need to re-form an existing team or create a new team. It is important to understand that teams develop over time and can be influenced in their development by leaders and the methodology used to form the team. Appreciative Inquiry's 4D model aids in the development of a team by forming a positive foundation and building on that firm foundation.

The stages of team development are well documented and usually happen in sequence although sometimes there may be overlap or regression depending on the relative health of the team.

Forming - The forming stage of development is a period of orientation and getting acquainted. Team  members find out what behavior is acceptable to others, explore friendship possibilities, and determine task orientation. uncertainty is high because the ground rule norms have not been established and what is expected of them. Members will normally whatever power and authority is offered by formal and informal leaders. Leaders need to make team members comfortable and make sure all have a voice. Teams already in conflict that need to be re-formed need to focus on things in common and speak into what the concerns are in the group. Appreciative Inquiry helps in the forming stage by recalling what has called the team together and the strengths of the team.

Storming - During the storming stage, individual personalities emerge more clearly. People become more assertive in clarifying their roles. This stage is marked by conflict and disagreement. The team may disagree about the team's mission and goals. This team is characterized by general lack of unity and cohesiveness. It is essential that teams move beyond this stage or they will never achieve high performance. Teams already in conflict that are in this stage are particularly challenging to deal with as they have formed individual and splinter group positions that may be hardened. There is a need to express emotions, even negative ones, that builds camaraderie and a shared understanding of goals and tasks.

Norming - At the norming stage conflict has been resolved and team unity and harmony emerge. Consensus develops as to who the natural team leaders are, and the member's roles are clear. Team members come to understand and accept each other. Differences are resolved, and members develop a sense of cohesiveness. This stage is usually relatively short lived and moves to the productive next stage.

Performing - During the performing stage, the major emphasis is on accomplishing the team's goals. members are committed to the team's mission. They interact frequently, coordinate their actions, and handle disagreements in a mature, productive manner. Team members confront and resolve problems in the interest of task completion. At this stage the leader becomes a facilitator of success in reaching goals.

Adjourning/Re-forming - Celebrate successes by telling stories! The adjourning stage is when the team mission has been accomplished and the team is dis-banded and re-formed in another team or placed back in their functional assignment. In on-going teams, like leadership teams their should periodically be an intentional re-forming usually when the make up of the team has changes through a loss of a key member, or the environment has changed that the team faces causes a serious challenge, or the goals of the team/ organization has changed meaningfully.

The Appreciative Inquiry 4D model helps guide the organization through this team development.

Making Vision Real

Vision is an attractive, ideal future state that is credible and compelling yet not readily attainable. Once an organization has gone through the dreaming process to determine what might be and articulated that vision with an identified mission it is ready for the process of making it real. The Appreciative inquiry 4D model calls that Design and we know that process as strategic planning. This process asks the powerful open ended question "How do we make our vision real?"

Within a church community visioning might be led by a pastor with the assistance of lay leaders. In the strategic planning process, lay leadership needs to take the initiative and leadership of the plan development. Making the dream real depends on the willingness of the lay leadership within the church to lead and participate in the process with great energy. Selection of the strategic planning team is an important component of the planning process.

Strategy might be described as the general plan of action that takes into account resource allocation (people, facilities, equipment, and time); strengths and identity of the organization; and and core programs to build on. The church as the organization finds this foundation in the skills & gifts of the leaders and people within the church, scripture, buildings, community partners, and healthy existing programs. Leaders need a clear purpose and vision before they adopt an effective strategy. Strategy involves a road map to where you are going and making adjustments along the journey based on what the organization wants to be and do.

It is very important to evaluate the environment the organization and church finds itself. Community demographics and trends are an important component of a strategic plan. Telling stories of successes that help to build momentum or future success are used to gain energy from the strategic planning process. Situational analysis includes a search for SWOT - Strengths to build on, Weaknesses to grow into, Opportunities to take advantage and build on; and Threats to identify and meet with plans and resources. Data is gathered along with the stories of God's work in order to form a solid foundation of success. By linking action with vision, strategic planning provides hope for a better future.

Improving the chance of success, leaders develop strategies that focus on three qualities:

• Core Competence - This is something the organization does extremely well in comparison with others in the community. Asking the question, "How has God used our church to impact the community inside and outside our walls will point to a possible core competence. Core competencies can be developed by assessing the resources of the church and reading scripture to determine how the church has been equipped or ministry.
• Synergy - Occurs when the organizational parts come together to produce an impact that is greater than the individual components. Multiplying by bringing different groups within the church to a common purpose, engaging partners in the vision, and prioritizing activities that push the plan forward are all examples of leveraging synergy within the church. Small groups that pray and study scripture together often help form this synergy.
• Creating Value - Focusing on the church's core competencies and the synergy in moving together create value for the community. Grounded in scripture to love others this value multiplys itself throughout the church and into the community it serves.

Strategy formation integrates knowledge of the community, focus on scripture and the Spirit, vision and mission with the core competencies in such a way as to attain synergy and create value within and outside of the church community. Leaders need to ensure that strategies are executed and actual behavior within the organization reflects direction. The Appreciative Inquiry 4D Model focused on Design is an excellent methodology to develop a strategic plan.